Falling
by goldenlanterns
Summary: Slight AU in which, Percy doesn't realize that Annabeth loves him too until she's hanging off a cliff and clinging to his hand (Percabeth confession in Mark of Athena, instead of The Last Olympian)


**_AU where Percy and Annabeth don't get together at the end of The Last Olympian, but instead at the end of The Mark Of Athena._** **_(Idea borrowed from some tumblr prompt)_**

OOO

Percy didn't know where it started and he definitely didn't know where it stopped.

There was the ride to Las Vegas, when Annabeth told him that they're were friends, that she would fight beside him.

In that moment, the teasing and the fighting and the tension didn't matter, only Annabeth and the fact that her loyalties lied with him. And he knew he felt the same.

She talked to him about her dad and her problems and Percy was filled with warmth and appreciation and the need to do right by her, to give her good advice, to make everything better for her.

OOO

Siren bay brought out the protectiveness in him, he was trying, he was trying so hard to help her feel satisfied. But she just wouldn't, she wanted more than Percy and his simple goofiness. She had her standards set higher.

Honestly, Percy couldn't blame her. She deserved so much more than him.

OOO

When Annabeth was kidnapped, Percy felt like something had been ripped out of his soul. Like a piece of him was dying. He didn't care what Chiron said. He didn't care what the Hunters thought. He was going to find Annabeth, his Annabeth, even if it killed him.

And when he did, her eyes soaked with tears of pain and determination, her golden curls wet with sweat, he felt that feeling again. The overwhelming need to take everything bad from her life. To fix everything for her.

And so he told her, "Give me the weight of the sky."

OOO

When he danced with Annabeth, as she looked anywhere but him, he couldn't help admire her eyelashes and the way her hair looked pulled back. She was squeezing his hand too hard but it was okay, Percy was glad for it.

Even if she didn't care for him like he did her, everything was going to be okay.

OOO

When Annabeth asked if Percy wanted to go see a movie after school one day, something lifted off his shoulders, untangled the knot in his stomach and brought an uncontrollable beam to his face.

Something like hope.

OOO

Percy felt like a complete jerk.

He wanted to stop everything and pull Annabeth away from Rachel and explain that he wanted to go to the movie with her. That he was glad she came all this way. Happy she was fighting beside him.

He wanted to say that he wanted to go on more kinda-sorta-dates with her. That he had planned to kiss her during the movie later, that he had feelings for her.

But then Annabeth was angry and closed off and wanted nothing to do with him as she stomped down Half-blood Hill.

OOO

The moment on Mount Saint Helens wasn't one Percy was going to forget any time soon. Everything burned his eyes, and the girl in front of him had burnt his heart, with her piercing gray look.

He couldn't let her die. He had come too far, they had come too far to give up. And he told her to leave because he was okay, he really was okay, with watching her leave safely even if it meant his death.

She looked so angry that Percy was readying to beg her with all of his heart but she didn't shout at him or punch him or condemn him for being an idiot.

Annabeth Chase kissed him on the mouth.

And then she backed away before he could respond and disappeared under her invisibility cap, leaving his heart in burned ashes on the ground.

OOO

Calypso was careful of Percy, like she could visibly see how broken he was. She spoke in soft words and cooked him food and generally looked sorry for him.

Percy wanted to be her hero, he did. He wanted to help her and free her. But she wouldn't open up and she insisted he be ready to go back to his world and his Annabeth.

OOO

Annabeth was so angry with him that she didn't talk to him for three days. And after that, it was to argue with him. Percy was beginning to realize that she thought Mount St. Helens was a mistake.

He felt helpless without her guidance, as stupid as he felt admit it, but knew his plan would work, Rachel could see in the Labyrinth, she could help somehow.

Annabeth shot the idea down immediately and yelled that she had been studying the Labyrinth for years on end.

Percy didn't want to see her hurt and he shouted back that it wasn't enough.

He could see in her eyes how much he had ripped her raw in the moment, he could see the hurt and confusion, the self doubt that had never been there before he yelled back at her.

And he felt like the worst "hero" in existence.

OOO

Percy couldn't blame Rachel for what was happening between he and Annabeth but the mortal girl seemed fully aware that she wasn't helping the strain on the relationship. She felt rotten for it, and Percy watched as Annabeth hated her and himself relentlessly while Rachel tried desperately to make things better.

It wasn't right what Annabeth was doing, everyone knew it, but that didn't stop her from turning angry and cold at Percy and Rachel for no reason.

He wanted so badly for her to just _stop_ but he didn't understand what was going on.

OOO

When he heard the last line of her prophecy, he push away the thought that the love in her heart was directed at anyone but Luke.

OOO

The war was a mess.

His friends were dying, his parents, his city, everything was falling apart.

The sooner he hurried up and got his stupid soul reaped by Kronos, the better for everyone else's sake.

And when he finally felt invincible and like he was starting to have the advantage, Annabeth took the knife that would've killed him.

Percy felt his body go weak and cold, watching as she was taken away from him to be healed.

OOO

On the balcony, when he told her of his only weakness and held her hand, the world seemed to spin in a whole new way.

OOO

On Olympus, as all of the confusion seemed to click, Percy handed Luke the knife.

He trusted him once, he could trust him now.

As the hero fell to the floor, lips glistening with red, the universe seemed to orbit at a million miles per hour and soon he was sitting at his picnic table all by himself, watching the canoe lake sparkle in the light of dusk.

Annabeth slid in on the bench beside him, holding something between a cake and a large brick. She smiled at him and all of the shock and terror of the past few days wore off completely, replaced by the fact that she was okay, alive, happy.

Percy wanted to tell her about the vision in River Styx. About his time on Olympus. About how he felt when she was kidnapped.

His throat closed up and he ate his cake, thinking about the first quest and all they had been through since, he never wanted to lose that with her.

"You're the greatest friend I could ask for."

And it was true, she was, but that wasn't what he wanted to say. And he had lost his chance, maybe for a few days, maybe for good. He watched as she smiled and he couldn't help but think that his friendship was all she wanted from him.

She bumped his shoulder with hers, rolling her eyes, "I know but don't go all mushy on me now."

He laughed, considering that maybe, just maybe, her friendship was enough.

OOO

Annabeth was attending boarding school but Percy insisted she come over whenever she felt like it.

And she did, always casually, sitting on the couch and studying something or making plans for the rebuilding of Olympus.

Percy was okay most of the time, but other times it physically hurt to see her there.

OOO

It wasn't like Annabeth never got mad at him any more, but she was more serene lately. Happier.

Percy couldn't help but feel proudly responsible for her happiness.

OOO

And then his memories were gone.

All but one, Annabeth. It was like a defensive mechanism that his brain went into. Every time he felt hopelessly lost, suddenly, Annabeth would come to the forefront of his mind.

She had fair, soft hair, he remembered and gray eyes, good for glaring and making sarcastic comments during the movies they would go to.

He didn't know what she was to him before, but he knew that every time he panicked, Annabeth would calm him.

OOO

It wasn't that Reyna was terrible or anything. She was a strong leader and person, with the same brave demeanor that reminded him explicitly of someone else . . .

But he couldn't. He didn't know why he felt a draw back, but he did, and with so many confusing things going on, Percy had learned to listen to his gut.

OOO

When Annabeth stood in front of him, between the Romans and the Greeks, watching him intently, every memory crashed back into his mind like a dam had broken.

The girl rushed forward and hugged him, hugged him so hard that his ribs cried out in protest, "I missed you."

"I missed you too." He promised, feeling like holding her for the rest of his life, feeling like kissing her even though everyone was watching.

Then she judo flipped him and yelled at him to never make her worry like that again.

And Percy had the nerve to laugh.

OOO

Long after they had sailed away from a burning Rome, Annabeth snuck into his room and shook him awake.

"C'mere, I want to show you something."

She dragged him to the pegasus stables and leaned on his shoulder as they sat in silence, "I missed you so badly." She confessed in a whisper.

Percy wanted to explain how only the thought of her had kept him going, how he wished he had told her that he loved her earlier, so she would have had something to hold to while he was gone.

"I know but don't go all mushy on me now." He said, repeating her words from months ago.

She laughed and hugged his arm, "Tell me about your quest."

So Percy did, and she talked about the months that he had missed back at camp, both of them easily picking up the friendship from before.

OOO

"I have to do this by myself." She said, searching his eyes, trying to make him understand.

He did, even if it hurt, so he hugged her tight, "Be careful. And come back to me."

Annabeth seemed a little taken back but wrapped her arms around his neck, "I will. I promise."

And somehow, a promise from Annabeth meant more than a swear on the River Styx.

OOO

The next time he saw her, every single demigod instinct he had went into complete overdrive.

He feet rushed forward and grabbed her arm before he could even realize what he was doing.

Percy looked down at her, brave, intelligent eyes and he saw the looming darkness behind her. For some reason, it didn't scare him, not at all.

"I've got you." He assured her, trying to pull them up, he couldn't. The others were trying to get to them but only Nico made it safely.

"Stop." Percy told him, before Nico pulled his hand and made all three of them fall, "Meet us at the Doors."

Nico was screaming something but Percy had focused again on Annabeth, gripping desperately to her arm.

"Percy, let me go." She begged, eyes wide with tears.

Of all the living nerve of her, of course he wasn't going to let her go, he was in love with her for Christ's sake.

"No." He responded simply, "I can't."

"I'll be okay." It was a lie. She wouldn't be okay, he could tell by her eyes, "I can't have you making sacrifices for me."

"But why?" His grip on the mortal world was slipping and so was his grip on her.

And she surprised him with the softness in her tone, "Because I love you."

He felt his chest constrict with pain and his vision go blurry with tears, "You do?"

"Of course Seaweed Brain, I haven't put up with you all this time just to be polite." She said, her eyes shining with too many emotions. Hanging off the edge of a cliff and she was still acting superior. And gods, he loved it.

"We're not going to be separated." He promised her, the reality of what he was about to do dawning on him, "Never again."

She squeezed his hand hard, allowing him to make the decision.

Annabeth Chase looked up at him with open eyes and regrets and bravery, "As long as were together."

Percy let go of the cliff and he wrapped his arms around her as they fell. He didn't know what to feel as the wind whipped around them and the light disappeared.

 _Because you're my friend Seaweed Brain, anymore stupid questions?_

 _You didn't believe I was dead?_

 _But you'll die!_ and _I'll be fine!_

 _Come on, take my hand._

 _I missed you._

Percy found her ear in the soft curls, telling her what he should have so long ago, knowing that she heard when she nodded.

"I love you Annabeth."


End file.
